


Rules and Roses

by Phandiction



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Cheating, Eventual Smut, Homeless Dan Howell, Homelessness, Jealousy, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, not done by dan or phil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 20:18:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phandiction/pseuds/Phandiction
Summary: Dan is homeless and has been on a waiting list for a volunteer to take him in until he can get back on is feet. The time finally comes. But his volunteer, Phil Lester, is more than he could have ever hoped for. And living with him and his troublesome boyfriend sparks unexpected drama





	Rules and Roses

Cold, hungry, depressed, desperate. Dan had been all those these things and more the last eleven months. But everything would change now. From this moment on he could start new. It wouldn’t be easy but a fresh start was always invigorating and he was sure his life would finally begin.

               Dan sat on a bench outside of an ugly, dark green building in the heart of London, his legs jumping up and down with nerves and excitement. The building may be gross to look at but it was an answer to a lot of people’s prayers. People like Dan who had been on the streets for one reason or another. Those that had been clean, sane, and sober for one year could come here with a chance at a new beginning. The waiting list was long but when it was your turn, arrangements were made for you to move in with a volunteer of the program for however long they decided to keep you, until you were on your own, or until you went back to your old ways and were kicked out.

               “Mr. Howell?”

               Dan stood at his name, facing a nicely dressed woman. He recognized her as the volunteer that had been assisting him in the program and smiled.

               “Are you about ready? Your volunteer should be here any moment.”

               “Oh yes, I am very ready.” He smiled. He wrung his hands together nervously. The woman noticed and smiled warmly at him.

               “There’s no need to be nervous. Phil Lester is very kind. He’s been with our program for several years now and has taken in many like yourself. He’ll be here any minute. When he gets here I’ll be waiting inside. He knows the routine.”

               “Okay, thank you Mary.” Dan nodded eagerly and sat back down on the bench. He zipped and unzipped his light black coat. He looked crazy for Christ’s sake. He didn’t want Phil to think he was a drug user or something. He felt like he a kid again, trying to impress his father or something. He took a deep breath and forced his palms open on his knees to try and keep still. It didn’t work for long. He clutched onto the backpack that held his few belongings. In fact, he was so focused on trying to look normal that he didn’t notice a man approaching him from the side.

               “Are you Dan?” Said the voice.

               Dan leapt to his feet in a panic to face the stranger. The stranger was tall and pale. He had jet black hair and intensely blue eyes. “Y-yes. I’m Dan.” Dan looked the man up and down.

               “I’m Phil Lester.”

               Dan furrowed his brows but he relaxed slightly.

               “What? You look disappointed?” Phil smiled warmly.

               “No, that’s not it. I just expected someone…different. I thought you would be older, I guess.” Dan actually felt relief over the fact that the volunteer was close to his age.

               “Why don’t we go inside? I have to fill out some paperwork.” Phil waved him forward and Dan followed tentatively behind as they went through the double doors back into the green building.

               “Phil! It’s so good to see you again!” Mary exclaimed and got up from her chair to hug Phil tightly.

               “Good to see you too Mary.” Phil smiled kindly at her.

               “Well come on up here Dan, don’t be so shy.” Mary called to him.

               Dan scrunched his eyebrows. _I’m not shy_ , he thought defensively and endeavored to stand a little taller as he came beside Phil.

               “Just a few things to go over before Mr. Lester here takes you to his home.” Mary handed him a piece of paper and pointed at the first of several bulletins. “Whatever rules your volunteer has decided to set regarding his house you must follow. Your volunteer has already been explained to him what he can and cannot ask of you. If your volunteer asks you to leave the house for any reason do so immediately. You may come here if that happens. In fact, any problems you have, please contact us. Do not try to solve it yourself. Some of the obvious rules are that you cannot invite someone to stay the night. You cannot invite anyone over at all unless approved by your volunteer. Alcohol must be approved of as well. You cannot have drugs in the home. Any rules broken will be reported to us by your volunteer.” Mary waved her hands absently. “Everything is pretty much common sense. If you have questions you can ask me or Phil.”

               “I understand everything. Thank you so much. I’ve waited a long time for this.” Dan expressed.

               Mary smiled. “Yes, you have. We’ll just have Phil sign a couple of papers and then you two are off.”

 

“So…where’s your car?” Dan asked hesitantly, throwing his back pack onto his shoulders as they left the green building.

               “Oh, no, I don’t drive. I take the tube everywhere.”

               “Oh okay.” Dan followed a step behind Phil toward the closest station. He felt comfortable enough with his volunteer but there were so many unknowns and Dan was afraid to do anything wrong. Phil was staying kind of quiet and Dan watched him curiously. He had a very relaxed energy about him which was a relief. He seemed in deep thought right now and so Dan stayed quiet despite the questions poking at the front of his mind.

               “We’ll get a chance to talk, I promise. I just wanted to get out of the crowd first.” Phil said, as if knowing exactly what Dan was thinking.

               “That’s fine.”

               “Do you have an Oyster card? If not I can grab you one really quick.” Phil offered.

               “I have one actually, but thanks.” Dan pulled his out from his pocket and followed Phil through the crowd of people onto the train. They sat in the closest seats and Dan huffed out a breath. He realized that he should be paying attention to where they were going to he could find his way back to Phil’s. The train rolled forward and Phil smiled across the space at Dan.

               “Okay then. Now we finally start to get to know each other. So, your name is Dan Howell, right?”

               “Yup. That’s me.”

               “Well, Dan, don’t feel like you have to tell me why you’re in the position that you are but I want you to know that if you’d like to, your welcome to tell me your story. I’d say I’m a pretty good listener and I always enjoy hearing people’s stories.” Phil’s comfortable way of speaking made Dan not really want to hold back any personal information.

               “I don’t mind at all. It’s not a very exciting tale.” Dan laughed. “It was by choice to be homeless actually. I wanted to see the world and I couldn’t do it trying to pay rent in a London flat so I just packed a bag and left.”

               Phil didn’t appear to be judging him in the slightest. He simply nodded and raised his eyebrows in astonishment. “That’s awesome. So where have you been? What have you seen?”

               Dan scratched his arm nervously. “Well…let’s just say my plan was easier said than done and I have no idea what I am doing. I’ve been on the streets for a couple of years now. Haven’t seen anything but this fucking city. Don’t get me wrong, London’s great, Manchester’s great, but life was a little more complex than I was expecting. Friends took me in for a while but I hated using them like that. So, about a year ago I decided I wouldn’t bug them anymore. I got tired of being cold and hungry pretty quick. That’s when I signed up for the waiting list in this program and here I am.”

               “You’ve been on the list for a year?” Phil’s eyes widened.

               “Yup. Let’s just say I was excited to hear that you’d be taking me in.”

               “I can only imagine. Well let me tell you a bit about myself. First, let me just get out of the way what I do as a living. I’m a YouTuber.”

               Dan raised an eyebrow. “A YouTuber? Really?”

               Phil laughed. “Indeed. So, I’m home a lot. Hopefully that doesn’t bother you.”

               “Why would it? It’s your house.” Dan pointed out.

               “Yeah, well, a lot of people in this program maybe start off wanting to do the right thing but ultimately a lot of them are just here for a shower and three meals a day. When they realize how often I’m home it’s not always appreciated.”

               “I guess I can see that, but then that’s their problem.”

               “Exactly. That’s what I’ve always thought. Speaking of which, you _are_ clean, aren’t you?”

Dan’s eyes widened. “Yes of course! I’ve never been on drugs. I just couldn’t do what I thought I was going to be able to do and got stuck in this black hole of life. You won’t have any problems from me with stuff like that.”

Phil sighed in relief. “Thank goodness. Those are the tough ones. They always seem to go back and I hate having to kick them out but I’m certainly not going to support them at that point. Anyway, so yeah, I’m a Youtuber. I like video games.”

Dan always leapt with excitement. “Video games? Do you have a system?” Dan immediately scolded himself for presuming he could use Phil’s stuff. He quickly settled himself down, feeling his cheeks burn a little in embarrassment. “Sorry, I shouldn’t presume-I just _really_ like video games.”

Phil laughed, his eyes squinting and the tip of his tongue poking out from the corner of his lips. “It’s fine. I’m glad we’ve found something in common. You’re welcomed to use anything really. You’ll have your own room of course. I have it all set up for you. One thing I should probably tell you before we get to the apartment is that my boyfriend lives with me. His name is Chad.”

“Oh!” Dan said in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting that. He chastised himself for acting so shocked. “Sorry, I just hadn’t expected that I guess.”

“What? That I’m gay or that I’m in a relationship?” Phil said, clearly not expecting Dan to answer the question but Dan didn’t catch onto that and panicked at the question.

“Um, well, neither I guess? Not that you’re not attractive or anything. I just thought-” Dan took a deep breath, his face flushed with heat, “I’m just going to stop talking now.”

Phil laughed. “Chad is easy going. You have nothing to worry about. I think we’ll all get along great. He likes video games too.”

“Does Chad work?” Dan asked, trying to get his composure back with casual conversation.

Phil’s smile disappeared at that and he shuffled uneasily in his seat. “Uh, no, not right now. He’s looking for a job though.”

With the sudden awkwardness Dan decided it was best to change subjects. “I don’t have a job right now but I’ll look for one as soon as possible.”

Phil pulled himself out of whatever train of thought he’d trailed to. “Great, sounds good. There’s plenty of places around the house that make it easy for travel and what not.” He stood from his seat. “We’re almost there.”

 

They came to a white apartment building and inside Dan was led up several flights of stairs to a door. Phil put a hand on the doorknob but before pushing it open turned to Dan. “Before we go in…” he said in a quiet voice, “Chad can be a little…moody sometimes. Don’t take it personal, it’s just the way he is. Most of the time he’s easy to live with but I just wanted to let you know.”

               “Okay…” Dan said, suddenly a little nervous to meet his second roommate.

               Phil pushed the door open and they entered what appeared to be the living room. Dan looked around in polite amazement. He was actually here. This would be his home. _Don’t get attached_ , he told himself. If everything went as he hoped, he wouldn’t be here long. The apartment was decorated randomly with figurines and furniture that didn’t match. Those are the things that made it feel homey though. It was obvious the people living here were comfortable with who they were. It wasn’t spotlessly clean but there was no clutter. Two controllers lay on the grey sofa, the TV was on a news channel but the volume was turned down. The house was quiet and Dan wondered if Chad was home after all. The kitchen was to the left, a bar separating it from the lounge. The bar didn’t look used. Instead there was a camera, several papers, and a couple boxes of cereal set on it. There was a staircase that led up to somewhere Dan couldn’t see and then a hallway led off to the side of the kitchen to what looked like a bedroom.

               “Chad? Our guest is here.” Phil called as he strode quickly to the kitchen and started placing dishes into the sink. “Sorry, I thought he was going clean the house.” Phil muttered under his breath and laughed nervously.

               Dan stood straight as a board just inside the entry door, unsure of what to do or where to go. “I don’t mind at all. I’m just kind of in shock to actually be here if I’m honest.”

               Phil smiled. “I’m sure. Give it a few days and you’ll forget what life was even like on the streets.” Dan doubted that but he appreciated the words all the same. “Come on in. Make yourself at home.” Phil waved in the direction of the couch so Dan stepped towards it tentatively. He stood by the arm of the sofa and waited again for further instruction as his volunteer hurried around the kitchen with a spray bottle and rag.

               “You must be Dan.” Said a mild voice from where Dan had seen the bedroom at the end of the hallway.

               Dan turned toward the figure and his eyes widened in surprise. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting but it certainly wasn’t this baby-faced boy. He had a bush of brown hair that added to his seeming delicateness. He looked a year younger than even Dan. “Uh, yes. And you’re Chad?”

               The boy smiled shyly. “That’s me.” He stepped forward and Dan thought he was going for a handshake but instead was brought into a friendly embrace.

               “Oh!” Dan said in surprise and awkwardly returned the gesture. Chad laughed and pulled away smiling brightly. He reached up and Dan had to fight against stepping away from the stranger’s hands as they stroked his hair.

               “He’s so young Phil!” The boy said, seemingly ignoring or unaware of Dan’s apprehensiveness.

               “They usually are Chad.” Phil replied, drying his hands off and coming into the lounge to stand a few feet away from them with a smile. “As you know, this is Dan. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about some of things we usually do with him. He’s never been a drug user and so far, he’s been quite honest with me about his past.”

               “Good to hear.” Chad ruffled Dan’s straightened brown hair and Dan found himself cringing internally. He’d spent a lot of time trying to make himself look decent for his volunteer. Chad seemed nice enough but far too touchy for his liking. As soon as the boy removed his hands from Dans hair Dan took a step away to distance himself a little. He tried not to act awkward about it and began taking off his backpack.

               “Right! Let’s show you to your room so you can set that down and settle in.” Phil suggested and extended his arm towards the stairs. “If you go right up there you’ll see a door. That’s your room.”

               Dan nodded appreciatively and slowly made his way up the staircase. He came to the top of the stairs and saw two doors. One was made completely of glass and opened to what looked like the roof. He was curious but stuck with going to the obvious bedroom door.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is obviously not finished. I wrote these chapters sometime late 2017. I have decided to focus on Temporary for the moment being.


End file.
